


Status Update

by Caranraw Greyhame (Atrus)



Series: Beneath the same skies [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Love Letters, M/M, Male Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Roegadyn (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24875734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atrus/pseuds/Caranraw%20Greyhame
Summary: Caranraw wants to update Hien on the liberation of Ala Mhigo, but writing an earnest letter to your secret lover is harder than it seems...
Relationships: Hien Rijin/Warrior of Light
Series: Beneath the same skies [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800427
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Status Update

**Author's Note:**

> More silly fluff. Second person because why not.  
> Again, many thanks to Rowland Gwynne for beta reading and edits.

> ~~_My dear_ ~~
> 
> ~~_My love_ ~~
> 
> ~~_Dear Hien_ ~~
> 
> _My lord Hien_

There. He might not want you to call him “my lord”, but there’s always the possibility that this letter will be opened by the wrong hands before it reaches him, and you want to be cautious.

> _I hope this reaches you before your troops leave for the journey. I have promised a mountain of kupo nuts to the delivery Moogle if he doesn’t get lost or sidetracked, but it’s a long way from here to Yanxia, and you know how Moogles are._
> 
> ~~_I miss your laughter_ ~~
> 
> ~~_I miss your touch_ ~~
> 
> ~~_I miss you_ ~~
> 
> _Long weeks have passed since our_ ~~_last night together_ ~~
> 
> ~~_farewell in Kugane_ ~~
> 
> _victory in Doma, and I wanted to keep you apprised of the situation here in Gyr Abania. News of Yanxia is hard to come by here at the front, and so I assume it’s just as hard for you to know what is happening here, on the other side of the world._
> 
> ~~_I wish I could tell you this in person_ ~~
> 
> ~~_I wish you were here_ ~~
> 
> _I am sure this missive of mine will find you well and, knowing you, neck-deep into the reconstruction of Doma. You are not one to sit down, give orders, and let others do all the work. Just one of the many reasons why I_ ~~_love_ ~~
> 
> ~~_believe in_ ~~
> 
> ~~_respect_ ~~
> 
> _admire you._
> 
> _We have been moving east from Castrum Oriens, slowly but steadily. The bridge on Castrum Velodyna first, then Ala Ghiri, then Specula Imperatoris. I know these names may mean nothing to you, but each one is a further step toward liberation_ _, toward our meeting_ _._
> 
> _These victories, alas, have not come without a cost. The Garleans are greater in numbers, and cruel. They do not hesitate to kill anyone in their pursuit of victory, including their own people._
> 
> ~~_Fordola, the enemy commander, killed the daughter of_ ~~
> 
> ~~_A tribe of Ananta (snake women, you’d like them) summoned a Primal out of grief and desperation_ ~~
> 
> ~~_They destroyed their watchtower and killed their own soldiers just to hit more of our numbers_ ~~
> 
> ~~_I almost died_ ~~
> 
> ~~_They have kidnapped Krile_ ~~
> 
> _I will spare you the details. Maybe later, in person, when they’re less raw. More deaths that Zenos will have to pay for._
> 
> _Tomorrow we march on Castrum Abania. I will be part of an infiltration team tasked with making sure that their main cannon is disabled before our forces storm the front gates._
> 
> _Yes, you can say it. It’s not going to be a_ stealthy _infiltration. I’m very much not Yugiri._

“Is this going to take much longer?” the delivery Moogle peers over your shoulder, and you hastily hide your writings, “I’m not here just for you, you know?”

“I’m drafting,” you growl, shooing him away, “If you’re really that busy, then go deliver some letters and come back later.”

The Moogle makes an offended noise and flutters a few paces back, but doesn’t move away from his spot. Clearly those other letters, if they exist, aren’t anywhere as interesting as you are.

> _Beyond Castrum Abania is a region they call the Lochs, and on its east end, finally, the city of Ala Mhigo. Our destination, and our hardest battle to come._
> 
> ~~_I know I don’t need to remind you of your promise_ ~~
> 
> ~~_I await your arrival on the battlefield_ ~~
> 
> ~~_But I don’t mind, because after we win I will have you in my arms_ ~~
> 
> _But we are not there yet. Moving troops is slow work, especially when so many nations are involved. It will be a few weeks before we can move against the city with all our forces._
> 
> _And I have to get ready to fight Zenos._
> 
> ~~_I must do better than the last two times_ ~~
> 
> ~~_I cannot lose again_ ~~
> 
> _Despite appearances, I have never cared about being the strongest. I have never rejoiced in killing when another alternative was possible._
> 
> _But Zenos does, and he will not stop until he finds someone more powerful than him, or until he crushes the whole world under his boot in his quest for a good hunt._
> 
> _And so I must be stronger._
> 
> ~~_I have to win because the alternative is unthinkable_ ~~
> 
> _There is so much more I’d love to tell you about: all the beauty I’ve seen in this region despite the occupation, the hidden nooks and crannies, the unending waterfalls, the tree growing out of an abandoned temple… But time is short._
> 
> _I don’t think I will have another occasion to sit down and write for a while, nor to find a delivery Moogle on the road, for that matter. Expect my next letter after the liberation._
> 
> ~~_Faithfully yours,_ ~~
> 
> ~~_Forever yours,_ ~~
> 
> ~~_Love,_ ~~
> 
> _May we meet beneath a western sky_
> 
> _-Caranraw_

You copy your draft onto a second sheet in your best calligraphy. You’re about to fold the letter when, on impulse, you add as a post scriptum: 

> _By the way, your words have inspired me to write a new battle song. Lyse likes it a lot. Says it gets her blood pumping._
> 
> _I have also written a second song, but that one’s not for the field. I believe it would be best played on a small mountain pond, under the plum trees._

You seal the letter in a sturdy envelope, wring it a little, and hand it to the delivery moogle. 

“Be sure to tell him it comes from Gyr Abania, or you can forget about those Kupo Nuts.”

The Moogle frowns, as much as his face allows it, and secures the letter in his satchel: “I still don’t see why you can’t deliver the letter yourself, kupo. You are an official letter carrier, after all, and you’re already here in Kugane.”

“I have my reasons.” First among them is that you shouldn’t be here. You left Lyse in Ala Ghiri, telling her that you had an errand to run for the citizens of Coldhearth, and she just sighed and nodded, not giving it a second thought. Sometimes your reputation for helping every random passerby with their personal problems comes to your advantage, since it allows you to disappear for a few hours without anyone questioning your absence. 

You knew the letter would not arrive in time if you’d sent it from Ala Ghiri, and you wondered briefly if you could make it as far as Namai before handing it off to a Moogle, but the chance of someone recognizing you in town was too great. 

Moreover, Kugane is cheaper to reach and has a larger Aetheryte crystal. Even with the _“excessive amount of aether at your disposal”,_ as Alphinaud puts it, travelling to the other side of the world and back is taxing both on your body and your purse, and you will need all your strength tomorrow and in the days to come. 

“So, will you do it?” you ask the Moogle again and he nods, floating half a foot up and down in the process.

“Yes, yes, I will do so as a favor to a fellow carrier! And if I say that I brought this letter all this way from Gyr Abania, it will make me look a lot more travelled too, kupo! Oh, the fabulous tales I will tell of my adventures to reach the far east…”

You chuckle and leave the Moogle to his daydreaming, then prepare for the aetheric journey back to the Peaks.

* * *

Soon. Very soon. 

Everyone has arrived. Merlwyb, Kan-E-Senna, Aymeric, and their retinues have all joined you on the front lines, all ready to guide their Grand Companies and lend the full force of the Alliance to the Resistance. Fordola has been captured and Krile is safe, if shaken. The residential district has been secured.

Only the city remains now. Only Zenos. 

You leave your tent and are about to start looking for Raubahn when a weary and roughed up Moogle with a blue cap cuts your path, waving a battered letter in your face.

“I have f-f-found you, kupo! If I’d known that Ala Mhigo was this far, I w-w-would have passed this letter to one of my Gridanian fellows. But n-n-no matter! A carrier _will_ see his letters delivered to the very end, kupo!”

It is only then, beneath a layer of road grime, that you recognize the little fellow from Kugane. 

You stand there, mouth agape, as he drops the letter into your hands and half-floats, half-wobbles toward your bed, where he collapses without another word.

You know that you should bring some food and comfort to the heroic Moogle, but in this moment the small envelope in your hands is your whole world. 

You carefully break what remains of the seal after the long and arduous journey and unwrap the single sheet of paper as if it were holy writ. 

The writing is bold, the calligraphy precise. You doubt that he stopped to ponder over a single word.

You read:

> _My friend,_
> 
> _we are ready._
> 
> _When the time comes, look to the skies._

It takes a moment for you to realize that there isn’t more. _Wait, that’s it?_ , the voice in your mind nags at your doubts. Sure, your letter had not been excessively effusive; in fact you’d gone out of your way to make it sound seemingly neutral. But this is… terse. A war dispatch more than a letter to a friend, or something more.

The fear grips you that Hien has finally come to his senses and realized that your budding relationship can grow no further, that there is no place in the life of a ruler for stolen love with an adventurer from a far away land. The fact that you had tried to cut it short yourself right after the battle for Doma doesn’t lessen the sting.

You fold the letter again, sighing, when you notice something small escape the envelope, falling slowly to the ground in gentle revolutions. You cup your palm to catch it and raise it to your eyes. 

A single plum blossom, still bright pink despite being pressed dry, delicate and fragile and yet strong enough to survive the arduous journey intact. 

Your worries fade like the haze over Loch Seld under the midday sun, and you almost feel silly for entertaining such thoughts. 

You’re still staring bright-eyed at the little flower when Krile finds you. “Caranraw! I was looking for- Oh, sorry, am I interrupting anything?”

You smile and shake your head, sliding the blossom gently back into the envelope. “Not at all. Did you need anything?”

“Raubahn wants you and Alphinaud at the war table to talk about some new developments. Nothing as good as the news you just received, I fear.“ 

“That obvious?”

Krile tilts her head, barely repressing her amusement. “I daresay one doesn’t need the Echo to spot happiness on a friend’s face. Hurry up, though! The Bull’s impatient!”

You nod, though you know already what Raubahn’s going to say. It begins. You’re moving to the front lines, and soon cannons and mages will be firing with all their might at the gates of Ala Mhigo, opening a breach for you to storm the palace inside.

You secure your bow at your back and the letter on the inside of your dogi, and start climbing the tall stairs to the war table. 

You’re almost at the top when the sudden cry of a bird pierces the air, and for a moment, just one moment, it sounds just like the call of a yol. 


End file.
